BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) — At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of the Republic of the Philippines Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. will pay a state visit to China from Jan. 3 to 5, 2023, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday.

President Marcos will be the first foreign head of state to be hosted by China in 2023. This visit is his first visit to China as president and his first official visit to a country outside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which fully demonstrates the great importance China and the Philippines attach to bilateral relations, spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily media briefing when asked for details of the visit.

During Marcos' visit, President Xi will hold talks with him, while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, will also meet with President Marcos, Wang said, noting that leaders of the two countries will focus on an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common interest, and jointly plan and guide the future development of China-Philippines relations.

As close neighbors facing each other across the sea, China and the Philippines enjoy a long history of good-neighborly friendship. In recent years, China-Philippines relations have achieved leapfrog development with fruitful practical cooperation in various fields, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples and contributing positive energy to regional peace and stability, Wang said.

Since President Marcos and the new Philippine government took office, China and the Philippines have reached important consensus on continuing to uphold good-neighborly friendship and to jointly achieve common development, he added.

"China looks forward to working with the Philippines to make this visit an opportunity to carry forward friendship, deepen mutual trust, continue to advance cooperation in the four key areas of agriculture, infrastructure, energy and culture, build the 'three good relations' as good neighbors, good relatives and good partners, accelerate the upgrading of China-Philippines relations, and usher the friendly ties in a new golden era," Wang said.

(Source: Xinhua)